Photographs of California seafood canning plants

Photographs of California seafood canning plants, circa 1910's - 1930's

Overview of the Collection

Title: Photographs of California seafood canning plants
Dates: circa 1910's - 1930's (inclusive)
19101939
Quantity: 17 photographic prints (1 box)
Collection Number: PH1123
Summary: Photographs of 7 seafood canning plants in California
Repository: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions: Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.
Additional Reference Guides
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The California commercial seafood canning industry had an 80 year (22 season) cyclical boom and bust history. Several of the largest canneries were located in Long Beach, San Diego, and up the California coast at Monterey Bay. Starting in the 1890's, small and large commercial processing plants produced tuna using whole sardines as bait. Because tuna is a seasonal fish, and canned sardines were found to have consistently a greater profit margin, a shift was made to catch and pack sardines during the off-season months. By the early 1920's the California fishing industry focused primarily on processing and producing high quality canned sardines for people in addition to producing fish oil, chicken feed, and plant fertilizer from the canning waste "reduction". By the late 1920's most of the commercial catch sold to the public was canned instead of fresh, and over 200,000 tons of the canned products sold were sardines. Packing was performed by hand with use of a conveyer belts and assembly lines.

Due to the profit margin made from the reduction products, some processing plants turned their focus to catching and processing everthing caught into reduction products, until government regulation stopped the practice. By the 1930's competition from Japan was noted to doom the fishing industry and by the 1950's foreign competition was generally reguarded as a serious threat to the industry. By 1968 the sardine industry met its demise, from competition and over fishing, and consequently completely collapsed.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographs of the Monterey Canning Co.; Neptune Sea Food Co. of San Diego; Normandy Sea Food Co. of San Diego; Premier Packing Company of San Diego; Los Angeles Tuna Canning Co. of Long Beach; South Coast Canning Company of Long Beach; South California Fish Cannery of San Pablo; Stanley Hiller, Inc. fish scrap reduction machine.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Processing Note

Processed by Melody Hauf, 2012; processing completed in 2012

Transferred from Industries and Occupations File, 2011

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Monterey Canning Co., Monterey, CaliforniaReturn to Top

The Monterey Canning Co. was opened in 1918 and comprised of two large buildings linked by a wooden bridge over the street. It was part of the crowded four block long Cannery Row community that processed primarily sardines, fish oil, and fertilizer. By the late 1940's the fishing industry was declined to the level that Monterey canning companies only survived by processing sardines that were trucked-up from southern California. The Monterey Bay area's fame and recognition however continues today due to the years of high quality sardines canned and sold around the world in addition to John Steinbeck's popular writings about cannery row.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/1	1	View of men on pier hoisting fish up from boats and fish being conveyed into canning factory	circa 1910's - 1930's
1/1	2	Interior view of workers in processing room Caption on photo: View showing fish entering dryers, just before being fried. Trucks are filled with baskets of fried fish, and packers are placing fish in cans.	circa 1910's - 1930's
1/1	3	Interior view of workers in canning area where tomato puree was prepared and placed in cans before fish was packed	circa 1910's - 1930's
1/1	4	Interior view of workers in canning area where cans were conveyed from puree room to packing tables	circa 1910's - 1930's

Neptune Sea Food Co., San Diego, California.Return to Top

The Neptune Sea Food Co. cannery was opened in 1916 for canning sea food. Neptune sold high qualitySapphirebrand sardines through brokers and wholesale distributors to Australia, India, France, Philippines, and England.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/2	5	Exterior view of canning and processing buildings	circa 1910's - 1922

Normandy Sea Food Co., San Diego, California.Return to Top

Normandy Sea Food Co. started in the early twentieth century to process sea food and sardines. Normandy merged with Sun Harbor Packing company in 1922 thus creating what was said to be the largest sardine packing plant in California.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/3	6	Group of workers standing outside a processing building J.A. Bruce Commercial Photography, San Diego, California (photographer)	circa 1918
1/3	7	Interior view of a processing building where workers are processing sea food and loading carts with the canned product Written on verso: Hendrickson 1918.	circa 1918
1/3	8	Interior view of a worker unloading a cart of canned sardines from a horizontal steam oven J.A. Bruce Commercial Photography, San Diego, California (photographer)	circa 1918

Premier Packing Co., San Diego, California.Return to Top

Premier Packing Co. was opened during 1912 to process tuna and by the next decade was noted for processingSteele's Premiumcanned sardines.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/4	9	Interior view of workers in processing room standing and working at fish cleaning stations	circa 1910's - 1930's

Los Angeles Tuna Canning Co., Long Beach, California.Return to Top

Los Angeles Tuna Canning Co. started 1915 with 8 newly built fishing boats and a 25-ton refrigerating plant to canPanamabrand sardines and tuna.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/5	10	Interior view of canning room with men sealing cans and moving carts Auditorium Studio, Long Beach, California (photographer)	circa 1930's
1/5	11	Exterior view ofPanama BrandLos Angeles Tuna Canning Co. at Long Beach with model T cars in the parking lot	circa 1908 - 1930's

South Coast Canning Co., Long Beach, California.Return to Top

South Coast Canning Co. was established circa 1910 and processedAvalonbrand sea food.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/6	12	Interior view of processing room with mainly female workers in "mob hats" sitting and processing fish at a canning line Auditorium Studio, Long Beach, California	circa 1920's

South California Fish Cannery, East San Pedro/Terminal Island, California.Return to Top

South California Fish Cannery producedBlue Seabrand canned seafood.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/7	13	View of cannery interior with man pouring ingredients into steam kettle to make catsup for the large fish production	circa 1910's - 1930's

Unidentified San Francisco, California fish scrap reduction plantReturn to Top

These photos are of the Stanley Hiller Inc. fish waste reduction machine utilized in the canning industry for the reduction of waste and control of smell from rotting sea food. Hiller's produced this machine to help canneries reduce waste (25 - 150 tons per day) and smell, and by each cannery owning an individual unit, the canner could save money and become its own producer of products made from the remnants and canning waste.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	item
1/8	14-16	Fish waste reduction machine inside San Francisco, California fish scrap plant	circa 1920's
1/8	17	Dismantled fish waste reduction unit on truck outside brick building Gordon, San Jose, California (photographer)	circa 1920's

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

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